Donna Lynne on Thursday announced that she's seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. The state's termed-out incumbent governor, Democrat John Hickenlooper, appointed her lieutenant governor and chief operating officer in 2015.

At the time, Lynne said she wasn't interested in becoming governor. She's a former health insurance executive who also worked in New York City government and raised three children as a single mother.

Her image as lieutenant governor has been as a nonpartisan manager. But on Thursday she repeatedly slammed Donald Trump and vowed to protect Colorado's immigrants and newly insured from the president and a GOP Congress.

Lynne joins a crowded Democratic field that includes Rep. Jared Polis, former state senator Mike Johnston and former state treasurer Cary Kennedy.